Pro players on the dole

weedgi

"however when you play a lot of live poker you do come across a LOT of 'characters' who all have their own backstory....a significant amount of the time those stories contain a lot of illegal/shady dealings "

this is so true 

scotty77

haha no they are good value in the games usually!

weedgi

great value   ,make the games what they are

Dazler

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

my above post was a joke btw incase it offends ppl
Posted by sikas

i got it sikas dont worry think your safe lol and it did make me chuckle maybe i could get a council house and play an underground poker game and gamble the house

WHOAMI196

Man, being on the dole was an awful experience for me, (i was on the dole for 2 months btw after telling my boss to gfhs, this was few years back), so because i quit i was not allowed jsa for like the first ~4 weeks or something, at the time i had 2k in pokerstars to which i had to withdraw to pay for living expenses but mainly because my hard-drive on my expensive lappy fkd up, and would cost me £300 to fix as it ran past the guarantee as much as 10 days, i was gutted, awful few months but i got a job in the end, not through Job Center though(they are cr ap frm my experience) but knocking on doors myself, and where i am from in N wales its pretty tough going to get a job.

ACEGOONER

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

interesting post if u are pro i doubt u would bother claiming however if u play as a hobby and claim jsa how can u say your lokking for work when u are on poker site for hours every day grinding thats wrong false reprentation of saying your looking for work when clearly your not
Posted by CHILLIE

Easy go onto reed.co.uk, upload your cv and let the jobs/recruitment consultants come to you. Takes 5 mins a week. 

The Jobcentre require you to have proof of 6-8 job applications every other week, let the internet take the strain. Playing poker full time is not misrepresenting that you are looking for work. The only time you should be available is for interviews etc. 

Whats that old adage "work smarter not harder". 

TINTIN

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

interesting post if u are pro i doubt u would bother claiming however if u play as a hobby and claim jsa how can u say your lokking for work when u are on poker site for hours every day grinding thats wrong false reprentation of saying your looking for work when clearly your not
Posted by CHILLIE

pretty idiotic statement from you.

im out of work, i normally play micro stakes on here when im out of work for many hours a day, i actively seek employment every day so who am i misleading?

active jobseekers get discriminated against by the job centre as it is. junkies and drunks get away with everything and also receive more money and they dont want to work. they all have even started to get dogs because they get more money still, yet if i havent applied for x amount of jobs in a certain time period im the 1 who loses any benefit payment. ive got to prove what efforts i make yet these junkies walk about getting everything for nothing.

i play poker to fill my day up, i have all the job sites bookmarked on my computer or phone, i have cv ready to send to any job that appears that i fit the profile for, i check these sites regularly thruout the day. i buy papers when they run the jobs column, im registered for many employment agencies and im on the phone chasing up any leads i hear about. i want a job as do many others

when i play i usually win enough to top up the meagre amount i receive from the jsa. is it a scam? no. is it hampering my efforts to find employment? no am i misleading anyone when ive got to prove my efforts? no

ACEGOONER

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole : pretty idiotic statement from you. im out of work, i normally play micro stakes on here when im out of work for many hours a day, i actively seek employment every day so who am i misleading? active jobseekers get discriminated against by the job centre as it is. junkies and drunks get away with everything and also receive more money and they dont want to work. they all have even started to get dogs because they get more money still, yet if i havent applied for x amount of jobs in a certain time period im the 1 who loses any benefit payment. ive got to prove what efforts i make yet these junkies walk about getting everything for nothing. i play poker to fill my day up, i have all the job sites bookmarked on my computer or phone, i have cv ready to send to any job that appears that i fit the profile for, i check these sites regularly thruout the day. i buy papers when they run the jobs column, im registered for many employment agencies and im on the phone chasing up any leads i hear about. i want a job as do many others when i play i usually win enough to top up the meagre amount i receive from the jsa. is it a scam? no. is it hampering my efforts to find employment? no am i misleading anyone when ive got to prove my efforts? no
Posted by TINTIN

I think you're trying to say what I said but better, as long as you satisfy the criteria to receive benefits who gives a hoot what you do outside the jobcentre. 

PS Im not sure what sector you work in but I found the reed site invaluable. 

TINTIN

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole : I think you're trying to say what I said but better, as long as you satisfy the criteria to receive benefits who gives a hoot what you do outside the jobcentre.  PS Im not sure what sector you work in but I found the reed site invaluable. 
Posted by ACEGOONER

yeah i use it, i work in the manufacturing sector but its not very stable more so in the area that i live. i was made redundant 2 year ago from a job that should have been for life if the company that i worked for didnt decide to jump on the financial uncertainty bandwagon, they only made £2.5b that year and coz profits were only slightly up they decided the site i worked at was to close. for me its back to getting into a new job and putting in the hours on a temp contract again in the hope that a few year down the line it becomes a permanent contract

rancid

Next you'll be saying you should pay tax on your poker profits because all poker players (winning) are just parasites !

cash in hand jobs have been around since day one and this will continue as it's part of society !

deal with it

MRBURNS4

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole : This has been discussed many a time, and pro poker players do essentially pay taxes. They pay a very large amount of rake to Sky (or whatever site) and Sky have to pay tax on that, so Sky have worked that in when they calculate what rake to charge so the players are essentially paying tax, they just pay it to Sky and Sky pay it for them.
Posted by Lambert180

I agree lambert and what Trev said they will find it difficult to Tax any poker winnings as people will just go self cert and claim so much back including travel expenses etc and I think the goverment have enough problems to deal with.

You take me for example I own a business so I would then say the poker is a another brach of the business and then could use it agaisnt tax etc this would open up a can of worms for the tax man because every time somebody buys a scratch card would they then claim they are a pro gambler and write the scratch card off agaisnt tax as well as their poker loses(just a micro example)

I also agree def not to be ashamed about being on the dole I was there once and there is a huge difference between someone who cant find work and someone who dosent want to find work.

Russ76

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

I know a couple of people who play for a living but also sign on.   They are live players tho and I think they sign on mainly for the security of housing benefits etc than the actual 50 odd quid. Will be harder to do as an online pro IMO as I think they now check bank accounts as well. I think that the figure is 16k in the bank and then you aren't eligable for benefits.  1.6k seems like a very small amount to be unable to claim state aid. But tbh I doubt many true poker pros sign on...there may be people who claim to be pro but aren't and sign on cos they have to....I can't see many poker pros taking the time out of their week for 50 odd quid,
Posted by scotty77

Hi Ryan, iv heard you say once or twice that some people clam to be pro but are not really and i wondered what you mean by that. If for e.g someone was not a well known pro on the cercit or even a mid stakes player on or off line but was still grinding out a poor and unglamourus living multytabling low stakes then surly they are still pro? 

Fabraclass

If your earning a reasonable living from poker and claiming, this is exploiting a technicality.

If your barely surviving from poker then definitely fine too claim.

If you are earning enough money from poker, then why not  give social welfare benefits to charity.If I had my way, every person would pay a very minor tax which would go to help the less fortunate people around the world.

scotty77

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole : Hi Ryan, iv heard you say once or twice that some people clam to be pro but are not really and i wondered what you mean by that. If for e.g someone was not a well known pro on the cercit or even a mid stakes player on or off line but was still grinding out a poor and unglamourus living multytabling low stakes then surly they are still pro? 
Posted by Russ76

There are a lot of people who are 'pro' who aren't 'pro' at all.  They are names on the circuit and are well known but survive on this well known name by selling @ mark up/being staked or having a long term backing deal.  Many of the faces you know on TV will have a net worth less than the average person on the street.....many semi wellknown pro players have started trying to sell shares in their WSOP action by selling 70pc at 1.2 or 1.3.  When you add the numbers up you realise that the markup actually pays for their entire buyin figures.

As long as you are making a decent living from the game then you are technically pro...there are tonnes of people out there who make a nice steady living from the game and do a far better job than many of the heroes/figures from the game.

So many of the pros are just lucky that they were around and playing the circuit from 2004 to 2008 when the game was far far easier and sponsorship dealers were being handed around like water.

Also I agree wit Fabrclass about the charity thing.  Give as much as you can spare to the less well off in society.  

unknown_username

In Response to Re: Pro players on the dole:

If your earning a reasonable living from poker and claiming, this is exploiting a technicality. If your barely surviving from poker then definitely fine too claim. If you are earning enough money from poker, then why not  give social welfare benefits to charity.If I had my way, every person would pay a very minor tax which would go to help the less fortunate people around the world.
Posted by Fabraclass

stop it now Fabra,you,re coming across like the god you are

TheMadMonk

not just £50 a week know a few players who sign on and do well at poker they are also getting their £600 a month rent allowance plus council tax rebate so it adds up to about £1k a month,

MRBURNS4

I totaly agree that some should go to people who need it. I think you need a clear definition of claiming benfits and playing poker i.e. if your claming and playing while looking for a job then I see nothing wrong but to say you are excuse the word pro that your living comes from the game and you dont intend to look for work then although it is technically within the rules everybody has to decide for themselves if morally that is right.

I come from the side of someone who has a long term health problems but because as mentioned before I have a business I would never want to claim benifts because I have a belief that unless the day comes that I was desperate for money there are a lot more people out there who are desperate for help esp during these difficult financial times.

In the same way would it be ok to be a cab driver who dosent delcare he is working but still signs on would you still say that was ok for them to claim?